


Family Comes First

by UnicornPopcorn14



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Love, Confused Donnie, Follow The Wrath Of Tiger Claw, Gen, Hurt Mikey, Hurt/Comfort, Just a little fun thing Y'know?, Some Humor, Stupid Leo, angry raph, some strong language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25035034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornPopcorn14/pseuds/UnicornPopcorn14
Summary: A really old fic I finally feel confident enough to share… (Finished 23rdof August 2019)What happened after the incidents of ‘The Wrath of Tiger Claw’? Here’s my take!
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	Family Comes First

**Author's Note:**

> TWOTC is my favorite episode, dudes! The action was insanely good and having all the main characters in it made it gold! The ending was alright, but I needed to see more of the boys talking about Karai's matter, as well as see what happened with Mikey. He seemed to be in a _very_ bad shape at the end…
> 
> Let’s go!

“Donnie, would you help me here?” Raphael asked his brother firmly.

The purple banded let out a frustrated sigh, approaching his brother with a nod, before glancing at the oldest.

Michelangelo was still in Raph’s hold, and in a pretty bad shape, too. His head contained a bruise from literally being smashed to a wall, his arms and plastron were scrapped, and blood was trickling from every injury. Donatello helped secure his only younger brother on Raph’s shell after tying Mikey’s deepest wound with his orange bandana. While Leonardo was still standing there, his back facing his brothers, staring at the window where he last saw Hamato Yoshi’s daughter.

Their combat with Tiger Claw would be described as a great fail. Even when they were four against one, and Karai saving them at the end, they’d barely scratched the mutant and got their butts kicked. Leo lowered his head; a lot was going on in his mind. A part was telling him that he should go and rescue his ‘sister’, but seeing his youngest brother like this; he couldn’t help but feel bad about thinking that. And Master Splinter, he would be mad for going on his own-

“Yeah, yeah, just keep standin’ there!” Raph exclaimed rudely, stepping out the door with Donnie behind, “We’re gonna be in the lair if you need us.”

Leo visibly grimaced afterwards, balling his fists, “I’m coming, okay?!” the statement came out as an angry grunt. Raph was getting on his nerves from the beginning of the day. He couldn’t understand how the red clad doesn’t get it. Like, _seriously_ , even when she saved them, he still goes on about how he doesn’t trust her?!

Raph rolled his eyes before stepping out, and Donnie stood where he were, watching the blue clad angrily past him. He tried to raise his hand and say something to comfort his brother, but it came out as nothing. He was sure Leo would get over it for Mikey, but it would be a matter of days before he keeps talking about this matter again. And Raph being the bullhead he is, would still try and make a quarrel out of it.

**TMNT**

Minutes went by, and they were strolling down the sewers silently. Raph was ahead of all, and Leo was far behind. The purple clad glanced from front to back, waiting for one of them to say something, then a fight emerge. He knew it would come at one point…

“I’m going after checking on Mikey…” Leo muttered in dead silence for all of them to hear.

“Have your lost your shell?!” Raph turned around, stopping them all, “You want to go alone? What happened to ‘team work’ or ‘team stuff’ or whatever?!”

…yup, here it is.

“You guys don’t wanna help me so I’m going alone! Besides, you’re not the one to talk. You’ve abandoned this team far more than I can count!”

“Twenty-six times to be exact…” Donnie whispered.

“I don’t care! You wanna get your butt kicked by the Shredder that much, so be it! But be sure to leave your will before going, maybe someone would consider looking at it.” He chuckled sarcastically, continuing his pace.

Leo growled, trying his best to keep his fists aside, “I’m gonna tell Master Splinter and I’m sure he’ll force you all to go with me!” his lips curled into a hideous smile.

Raph stopped dead track, turning around again, “I’M NEVER GOING THERE TO HELP SHREDDER’S DAUGHTER!”

“SHE IS **NOT** SHREDDER’S DAUGHTER!”

“ _HE_ RAISED HER! _HE_ TAUGHT HER TO BE CRUEL, EVIL AND HAVE NO MERCY! SHE’S WITH THE BAD GUYS! CAN’T YOU WAKE UP FROM YOUR STUPID DREAM WORLD!?”

“Stupid dream world? STUPID DREAM WORLD?! SHE SAVED US TWO FREAKING TIMES!”

“WELL, THAT’S NOT-”

“ ** _ENOUGH!_** ”

The two older turtles turned around to see the purple clad, his eyes completely white and panting furiously. Fire could be seen around him, “ENOUGH YOU TWO! ALL YOU’RE DOING IS WASTING YOUR TIME, WHILE MIKEY’S THERE LOSING BLOOD EVERY SECOND!” He finished, pointing behind Raph’s back.

The duo immediately turned to their youngest, and sure enough, his blood was dripping on the sewer’s water.

Suddenly as if on cue, Mikey started to groan, squirming in Raph’s hold.

The three turtles were caught off guard when their baby brother opened his eyes. His head was still resting on Raph’s shoulder, and his baby blues tiredly started shifting everywhere.

Mikey confusingly looked, then hissed at the pain that was burning inside him, “Ugh... What… happened?” he asked wearingly.

“Hang in there, little bro.” Raphael quietly spoke, not wanting to startle his brother. He continued walking forward towards the lair, “We’re getting you to Master Splinter.”

“Mikey, you alright?” Donnie got closer to face his only younger brother.

“Yeah, dude. Super.” Mikey smiled in a hint of sarcasm, then hissed quietly, gripping tighter on Raph.

“Of course you are.” Raph rolled his eyes.

“Hey!” Mikey weakly bumped the back of his brother with his good arm, “You can’t deny that I did a pretty good job today…”

Raph kept quiet. Mikey was indeed different today. He had a great idea, not only once, but twice, that Raph honestly thought that they were in a different dimension or the end of the world was near. His brother fought pretty well, too. But who was he to admit that?

“Did a pretty good job at getting your butt kicked…” he murmured.

“Hey!” Mikey bumped him stronger this time.

Donnie smiled warmly at his brothers’ usual behavior. Then realized that their leader was missing. He turned his head around, to see Leo walking slowly behind. His mind was obviously filled with a mess.

Sighing, Donnie slowed his pace down to be walking next to Leo, “Hey.” Donnie didn’t know how to approach the matter without being yelled at, but tried his best. Leo remained silent. “Look, I’m not gonna prevent you from going after her. After all, I think I know how it feels…” He finished lowering his head.

“You do?” Leo curiously glanced at him.

“Yeah…” He gave a small smile, “I get it a lot when April’s in danger.”

Leo blushed bluntly and crossed his arms, looking away, “Wh-Who said that-”

“C’mon. You know more than I do that you can’t deny it. And that’s why I’m not approaching the matter that she’s our _sis_ - _ter_.” He grinned cockily.

“Never approach that…” Leo smirked a little, still avoiding eye contact.

“Affirmative.” Donnie chuckled, then turned all serious, “I know Raph. He just doesn’t want you to get distracted because of her. Even if he doesn’t admit it, he never wants you to leave the team. Remember that time when he decided to lead us?”

“Yeah. First time I met Karai…” Leo said.

“When Mikey didn’t wake up, he literally got a panic attack that day.” They both turned to the remaining two, who were constantly annoying each other, “He realized how important you are, but still felt that Karai will change that.”

Leo confusingly stared, “Wha-? What does that mean?”

Donnie closed his eyes, “The day after that incident, I was fixing something when he entered. Since Spike wasn’t there, He apparently wanted to talk to someone. And when he made sure I was distracted, he started talking. Don’t tell him, but I was listening to everything. I still remember what he’d told me.” Donnie sheepishly grinned.

“What… did he say?” Leo carefully asked.

“He told me that he caught you ‘hanging out’ with her. Saying that he couldn’t believe you forgot us and didn’t even think about checking on us. He also kept bragging that he can’t handle ‘two gross horny guys’ fighting with him…” Donnie blushed slightly.

Leo stared with a baffled look.

The purple clad cleared his throat and regained his posture, “In short, he believes that if you had to choose between Karai and us, you will choose her.”

“W-What?!” Leo was dumbfounded, “Of course I wouldn’t do that!”

Donnie shrugged, “It’s Raph, you know… thinking about Raph stuff…”

Silence spread, before a question crossed the blue-clad’s mind, “You and Mikey don’t think that too, do you?” Leo hopefully asked.

Donnie didn’t take time to respond, “Of course not.” He smiled, “Mikey certainly doesn’t.”

Leo chuckled, looking at his youngest brother far ahead. He then lowered his voice, “Thanks for the talk, Don.”

“Any time.”

“Master Splinter!” They heard Raph call from ahead of them, running into the lair. The two brothers glanced at each other then they sprinted too. Raph sounded worried. Did Mikey faint again? Donnie hoped not.

They both entered at the same time. Raph rested Mikey on the couch, and he appeared to be unconscious. Casey was standing up next to them, and seeing his posture and expression, he had clearly been sleeping on the couch, before Raph -supposedly- woke him up by throwing him off it. April was running towards the two turtles. Splinter was nowhere to be found.

Donnie and Leo approached to see the matter.

“Woah, what happened to the little dude?” Casey, with a bruised eye, asked while putting a hand on his head. He hadn’t completely recovered yet and needed to rest. But he too was concerned about the littlest.

“Tiger Claw whipped him on a wall!” Raph exclaimed, clearly worried.

“Why did he faint again?” Leo asked.

“He kept saying that his head hurt, until he stopped talking at all!” He started panting, “Donnie, DO SOMETHING!”

“Okay, okay, I will. Calm down.” Donnie too was worried, but he tried his best to keep calm as possible. Getting on one knee next to Mikey, he put a hand on his bruised head, then his forehead.

“Raph, did he say his head hurt?” He asked firmly, turning to the red clad.

“Yeah, then started blabbing about everything splitting in half…”

“I see.” Donnie kept checking on his brother, then started giving orders, “April, can you get Master Splinter to my lab?”

“He’s meditating,” April said, “But I’m on it!” she ran towards the dojo.

“Raph, carry Mikey to the lab, too. I will take a better look there.”

Raph silently nodded and picked his brother.

“Casey…” Donnie paused, seeing the boy swaying back and forth, trying to stand still. The purple clad was about to say something mean or irritating, but sighed afterwards, “Get some rest.”

“H… Huh?” Casey asked drowsily, supporting himself with the TV.

Donnie rolled his eyes before turning to his brother, “Leo, help him rest please.”

Leo nodded, while Donnie headed to his lab.

**TMNT**

As Donnie was about to enter his place, he saw Raph sitting on a chair next to the medical bed. Thinking that no one was witnessing, Raph put a hand on his younger brother’s forehead, showing his soft side for none other than himself. Donnie gave a small smile, never wanting to freak him out. Hence he stepped back, and knocked from outside, making Raph immediately jerk his hand away.

“So, what do you think he has?” Raph asked when he let Donnie take his place.

Donnie started cleaning the wounds while talking, “Best case scenario, mild traumatic brain injury, or grade one concussion. Worst case scenario, grade four concussion…”

Raph rolled his eyes, “Sorry I asked.”

Donnie sheepishly chuckled, then stated, “I can see that he has the symptoms of a severe concussion. After all, he landed head first.”

Raph stayed silent.

“If he has concussion; that means that we’ll deal with an unfocused, sick, drowsy Mikey for a straight week…” The purple clad sadly stated.

“Typical Mikey, you mean?” Raph snickered.

“Exactly.” He smirked

“Seriously though,” Raph’s threatening tone emerged, “That cat dude won’t get away with that.”

“I know…” Donnie answered absentmindedly, “Would you wash that please…?”

Raph looked to his brother’s to see an orange bandana, which was now red from soaking blood. Donnie pointed at a tub in the opposite corner of the lab and wordlessly, Raph nodded and headed to wash it.

“After you finish…” he heard Donnie speak, “Let me clean your shell. I won’t let Mikey’s blood stain on you.” He quietly said.

Raph glanced at his shoulder to un-doubtfully see some blood on it. He sighed irritatingly, “K, bro.”

“My son…”

The two turtles turned to the door to see their father, April and Leo entering the room. Anxiousness was spreading on Hamato Yoshi’s face as he got closer. He turned to his third oldest son, demanding an explanation.

“Tiger Claw…” was all he said, before he continued cleaning him.

Splinter kept silent for some time, looking at his youngest son sympathetically. It somewhat reminded him of his sons’ first fight with the Shredder. How they all returned in a pretty bad shape and he was the one that treated them. He did not find the urge to ask about his daughter yet, sensing a great tension in his sons, especially from Leonardo. He would ask later. Now, Michelangelo mattered.

“Need any help, Donatello?” he asked, seeing the distress in the purple clad’s features.

Donnie took some time before answering, “Not much, thanks, Sensei. It’s easier when Mikey’s not awake, anyway…”

“Hmph.” Splinter nodded understanding while stroking his beard. He knows how much trouble the youngest causes while being treated, especially when the treatment involves needles. But right now, Donatello appeared to be good on his own.

“Will he need any blood transfusion?” Leo asked, being the only one having the same blood type as the youngest. He’d done it as many times as he could count, and was curious about getting ready or not.

“No, he won’t need.” Donnie answered simply, causing the oldest to settle a bit, “Can someone hand me a bandage?”

April, being the closest, handed it. Donnie grabbed it with a ‘thanks’, completely unaware that she was the one who gave it to him. After bandaging Mikey’s arms and head, he let out a breath, resting his back on the chair, thankful that he’d finished.

“Now what?” Raph asked, crossing his hands while holding the wet bandana.

“Now, we wait until he wakes up. I’ll then diagnose his symptoms and decide whether he stays in bed or not.” He paused, causing silence to spread in the lab, “Oh, and…” Donnie looked at Raph, “C’mere, let me clean you too.”

Raph grunted, he hoped that Donnie forgot that. Sure, he wouldn’t like his brother’s blood to stain on him, but he never liked that kind of treatment either. He agreed sighing, getting a chair and taking a seat in front of Donnie.

Splinter knew that there was no way of helping his son, now that he had finished, so he decided to leave the lab; but not before signaling Leo to come after him. Leo immediately excused and went after his father.

**TMNT**

Splinter sat on his knees on the dojo floor, and Leo followed the same motion, closing his eyes. A small wooden table was between them, a teakettle and two round cups were on them.

“So, what troubles you, my son?” Splinter began calmly, knowing fully the reason, but was curious how his oldest son would express it.

Leonardo let out a heavy breath, saying, “Karai… Tiger Claw… He took her and… I-I…” he finished with a distressed sigh.

Splinter closed his eyes. He knew what his son was trying to say, and the old rat wasn’t very shocked about Miwa’s matter. He was sure that it was going to end that way.  
But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t desperate about the situation. She was his daughter, after all, and would turn the world upside down for her. However, given the circumstances, he was certain that she was fine, at least not dead yet; and for a good reason, too.

“My son,” Splinter began, “I truly know that the situation is hard for you, for all of us. But it is not the time yet…”

“Then when is that time, Sensei?!” The blue clad snapped, standing up, “Your _daughter’s_ out there, with the _Shredder_ , and who knows what’s happening to her while we’re speaking right now?!”

“Leonardo,” Splinter called firmly, “She will be oka-”

“NO! She will NOT be!” He interrupted his father, pacing back and forth, “I know her, Sensei. She’s going to tell the Shredder that she knows the truth without hesitation! Why are you talking like this is no such big deal?! Don’t you think that she might be going through shell right n-”

“ _Yame_!” Yoshi banged the table with a hard fist, causing his son to freeze, “I am aware that the situation is not easy; but I cannot risk letting you or your brothers go! Michelangelo needs us right now. Right now he needs medication care. And you will not go anywhere until your brother is completely healthy again.”

Leo was still standing, dumbfounded, still not getting it. How can his father be so cool about the ordeal when his daughter is in Shredder’s hold? How?! And he doesn’t even talk about it! All what concerned him right now are his _sons_?!

Splinter let out a breath to try to calm himself. Although deep down he wished to hold his daughter in his arms, he just wouldn’t risk it right now. They were tired from their fight with Tiger Claw, needing rest. Donatello may stay to watch over the Michelangelo, while Raphael wouldn’t agree on fighting while they are being out numbered, leaving his oldest son. And of course Splinter wouldn’t let Leonardo go on his own.

“Listen, my son,” Splinter spoke after calming down, “Miwa will be fine.”

Leo stared doubtfully at his Sensei, shaking his head.

“Shredder is not going to kill her.”

“How do you know?! He’s _the Shredder_! You know how crazy he can get!”

“Leonardo!” Splinter raised his voice, threatening, then calmed down, “How much I hate to say that, but Saki is not going to kill her because…” he sighed, “he considers her as his true daughter.”

“What does that mean?” Leo asked.

“Oroku Saki lives in a world where he believes that Tang Shen, my wife, was his; and Miwa, my daughter, is his, too.” He paused, “He adores her just as a father would adore his child, and at the least, he would never intentionally kill her..”

Leonardo’s eyes widened as he sat down silently. He couldn’t believe how crazy that dude was; stealing a life from a man, and considering it as his own. Splinter sighed and poured some tea, handing it to his son to calm down. Once the hot drink contacted his lips, his heart started to settle down a bit. Leonardo let out a heavy breath, hanging his head in either defeat, or despair.

“So, you will not force the others to come with me even if I asked?” Leonardo looked up at his father.

“Of course not, my son.” Splinter confirmed, sipping his tea, “Your brothers need rest, and so do you.” He paused, seeing his son avert his eyes again, which caused the wise rat to ask, “What’s the matter, my son?”

“Father…” Leonardo sighed, “that wasn’t the only thing that was bothering me…” he said quietly.

Yoshi already knew that there was something else going on in the blue clad’s head, and partly knew what it was; but decided to let the leader speak for himself, “Go ahead, Leonardo. I am listening.”

Leo let out another distressed sigh, “It’s Raph. He’s driving me crazy! Ever since I met Karai, he keeps telling me that she’s up to no good. He never trusts her for one bit, even when she’d saved us.”

“My son… every person seek their amount of time to gain trust,” Splinter explained, looking inside his teacup, “And Raphael, well, seeks a lot…”

Leo cracked a small smile, “Yeah, I’ve realized that. I bet Mikey needs to learn some skills from him.”

“I agree.” He finished with a warm smile.

The rest of the confab was silent, except for the tea sips that made some little noise. There was no tension in the air, and the silence was very comfortable for all it was. Even though Leonardo was still devastated to save Karai, Sensei had already forbidden it. He still couldn’t buy the fact that Shredder wouldn’t harm her, but he never doubted his father.  
He got the message. Right now, wasn’t the right time. He needed to think about his hurt brother more often, and ask Donnie if he needed any help to lift some weigh off his shoulder. A smile cracked his lips. Mikey wasn’t an easy going patient, after all.

“I’m promising you this, Sensei,” Leonardo cut the silence off by speaking firmly, “When Mikey’s better, Karai will join us here, no matter what!”

Splinter smiled while closing his eyes, “I am sure she will, my son.”

Before Leo could reply, the dojo’s doors slid open, to reveal the red clad, saying, “Sorry for interruptin’ the talk, but the shell-head woke up, if you wanna check ‘em out.” He pointed at the lab, talking to his older brother.

After Splinter gave him a nod, Leonardo shot straight, “You kiddin’ me? Of course I’m coming!” passing Raph in lightning speed; he hurriedly headed towards Donnie’s lab.

“Excited much?” Raph scratched the back of his neck, watching his brother who entered the lab, perplexed. While Splinter chuckled at his sons, got his cane and took a hold of the old frame he got. Baby Miwa, Tang Shen and him as a human were in a black and white photo. A smile crossed the mutant rat in proudness.

Many times in his life, he wondered how his story would have been if fate wasn’t cruel with him. Sure, he would still be with his wife and his grown up daughter in Japan. He would still be training with his master Hamato. He would still consider Saki as his brother. But the worst thing of all, he would have never gotten such an amazing family as this; four sons and a daughter (April) that he loved so much and would do the impossible for their sake. When he believed that his Miwa was gone, he still became a true father. When he believed that he had no home to live in, his mutant sons guided him to their current home. When he believed that the turtles would never do a change, they became great ninjas, saving the world and the universe multiple times.

When he believed that fate was cruel with him, it wasn’t, it was guiding him to a better future.

A tear rolled down the wise rat’s fur.

**TMNT**

Mikey’s eyes cracked open, seeing blurry purple and orange above him, in which he recognized as Don and April. Their voices, though, were distorted, and the little one couldn’t make out any of the words. He groaned. His head was killing him, and he was super dizzy, which made him so frustrated.

He never liked being sick, because aside from taking treatment and receiving scary needles; he would either stay in bed; or would be able to move around but not go on patrols, which is literal torture. Being alone in the lair with Sensei as company isn’t fun at all. Leo would consider it fun, but him, no!

Michelangelo stayed like that, hearing the muffled voices around him, but never responding. Soon enough, different voices accompanied the room. Mikey groaned again. He could clearly sense the concern in the voices, but he never made out what the heck they were saying, so how would he respond? Or even assure?

Suddenly, he felt a hard smack in his face, in which made him hiss loudly. Surprisingly, when he opened his eyes again, his vision was better, and his mind could finally make out words.

Donnie: Why’d you do that?!

Raph: I was just trying to wake him up!

April: Mikey, can you hear me?

Donnie: Don’t do that again! You know he’s got a head injury, right?!

Raph: Oh, please! It clearly worked. Look at him!

“D-Dudes…” Instantly, all eyes were on him as he mumbled his first word. His head still killed him, but he could speak nonetheless. He tried to utter more, “My head… it hurts…” he lifted his arm to put on his forehead, only to feel a sore pain spreading in it. He groaned.

“I know, Mikey, I know.” Donnie gently laid a hand on his brother’s plastron, trying to ease him as much as he could. The freckled turtle’s eyes were now all the way open, trying to take a good look at his brothers and April. Although it was still slightly distorted, he could clearly tell that they were worried for him.

“Get Leo.” Donnie told Raph, who snorted,

“Why should _I_ get him?!”

The tall turtle glared at the shorter one, making him roll his eyes and huff, “Fine.” He made his way out.

Mikey attempted to sit up, which made Donnie instantly give him a death glare. Mikey sweat dropped frantically and rested himself where he was. April approached the medical bed and sat on its edge, while Donnie sat on the chair he was working on.

“How do you feel now, Mikey?” April managed to ask.

“I’m okay.” He smiled at the red-headed, knowing fully that this would make his immediate older brother jealous. Then he frowned, remembering something, “So, what happened to Karai?” He turned to Donnie.

The purple clad’s face gloomed when Miwa was mentioned, averting his eyes to stare at the opposite corner, he mumbled, “Tiger Claw took her…”

Mikey’s eyes widened, “What?! And you left her be? What about Leo?!” He was now sitting up, looking around.

“Mikeeey!” Donnie and April pushed on his plastron to force him in bed. Mikey nervously grinned and rested himself again, glancing at his brother.

Donnie sighed, “You were, and still is, injured Mikey. We couldn’t possibly leave you there, and of course we wouldn’t have carried you to the Shredder’s lair.”

The youngest averted his eyes, feeling guilty for passing out in a wrong time, “Sorry for making us fail… again.” He whispered.

“What are you saying, Mikey?!” He eyed the red-head, who appeared to be furious, “Donnie told me that you fought like a beast today!” April punched in the air, as if doing ninja moves.

Mikey doubtfully stared, turning to Donnie, “You did?!”

Donnie smiled, “Yeah, Mike. As much as I’m surprised to say that, you really were useful today.” He scratched the back of his neck.

Mikey pouted, “What do you mean? I’m useful _all the time_!”

“Suuuure.” He rolled his eyes.

“Mikey!”

They all eyed the entrance to see Leo merging in. He approached the bed with a smile, but Mikey didn’t return it, in fact, he looked a little bit down.

The eldest raised a brow, “Hey, everything’s alright?”

The youngest pushed himself up, despite Donnie’s scary glare, and stared at the bed sheets, “I-I’m sorry that I dropped out cold in the last minute, Leo. I _really_ didn’t mean it.” He eyed the blue clad shamefully.

Leonardo shook his head with a faint smile, approached the bed and sat on the edge, to put a hand on his baby brother’s shoulder, “It doesn’t matter now, Mikey. You guys come first before anything…” He said with a beam, “Besides, you’re not the one to apologize. You’ve been _awesome_ today!”

From afar, Raph’s eyes widened slightly.

Leo’s smile took some extra space when he saw Mikey stare at him unbelievably, “You really think I was awesome?”

“Sure.” He paused when Mikey took down a fist while whispering “Yes!”, “But don’t brag about it too much, or I’m gonna take that back.” Leo stated in a smug smirk, crossing his arms.

“You got it!” Said Mikey, as he started making a silly, silent dance. All of the people occupying the room laughed, except for Leo who rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Mikey, that’s enough. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Donnie was the one to say as he got close to the bed, and forced Mikey to lay back on his shell.

Mikey pouted, “Aw, come on…”

“Don’t whine. At least you’ll be able to get out of bed in a year or so…” Donnie stated in the most believable tone he could manage.

“A _YEAR_ OR _SO_??!” Mikey shouted in disbelief, wincing heavily when his head pounded.

Donnie tried to muffle a laugh, deciding to continue, “Yeah… *dramatic sigh* better pack your stuff and move here, Mikey. Should we do that for you?

“W-What?” Mikey squeaked, as if about to cry, “I’m gonna stay here…? Forever…?”

Every eye in the room widened, before Donnie rambled, “Oh, no, don’t cry! I was only joking!!”

Mikey paused before laughing loudly, causing the people in the room to get confused, “I know, dude! I wasn’t going to cry! I was playing along with your joke!” He continued laughing.

April, Donnie, Leo and Raph stared at each other quizzically.

“Man, something’s definitely different with you today…” Donnie stated.

Leo chuckled quietly while his brothers still talked to each other, before catching Raph with the corner of his eye leaving. He stood up and got out, not that anyone needed him at this point, and closed the infirmary door behind him, to spot Raph ambling towards the direction of his room.

“Raph, wait.” Leo called, catching up to his brother who stopped and turned his body half-way.

“What do you _want_ , Fearless?” Raph rolled his eyes while speaking.

Leo stopped in his tracks, averting his eyes, “I… I just came here to say sorry…”

Raph’s expression turned into one of surprise, fully turning his body, “For what?”

“For not being open-minded… And thinking of… of _her_ before you guys…” Leo said heavily, “And saying those dumb words of ‘I’m gonna make Master Splinter force you to come with me’… That was really childish and irresponsible…”

Raph stared at him like he had just blurted some gibberish, before averting his own eyes, “And… and I’m sorry, too…”

“What was that?” Leo said, feeling like he had heard the statement incorrectly.

“I _said._ I’m sorry.” Raph said between gritted teeth, before calming himself down, “I should’ve listened to your point of view about Karai… you know? Or at least tried to understand it..."

Leo stared at his brother for a while, about to say something, but Raph continued after taking a breath,

"And, as much as I hate to admit this, you're right. She's still a part of our family. She deserves another chance..." He said quietly, avoiding eye-contact.

The eldest took a minute before smiling fondly, "Thanks, Ra-" He paused when a mumble startled them both, and Leo and Raph turned to see that it was just Casey talking in his sleep. The two turtles slowly eyed each other, now taking caution of not talking too loud. They were both trying to press down their laughs while staring at each other.

“That blockhead…” Raph whispered with a chuckle.

Leo chuckled along, before pausing, “So,” he said, “does that mean we’re cool?” Hopefully, he asked, raising up a fist.

Raph contemplated at it for a while, before smirking, “I guess…” He bumped Leo's fist, “...Yeah.”

**~~**

**End**

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know… I guess that’s a decent ending. Just the image pausing at the two of them fist-bumping. What do you think?
> 
> Contact me on Twitter! You can find me [@UniPopcorn1414](https://twitter.com/UniPopcorn1414)! <3


End file.
